Memorial of Saint Catherine of Siena, virgin
(Acts 13:13-25; John
13:16-20)
The first part of the
movie The Sound of Music takes place in a convent. An aspirant named Maria seems devout but acts
in unconventional ways. Some of the nuns
criticize her for singing all the time and coming late for activities (except
meals). Although she hardly ate too much, today’s patron, St. Catherine of
Siena, provoked the same type of criticism.
From childhood
Catherine wanted to dedicate her life to God.
Her parents thought she should marry and have a family. But she saw herself wedded to Jesus. Living during the Avignon papacy and the
Great Western Schism, Catherine campaigned for a Church united to the Bishop of
Rome. She shunned conventual life to
live as an ascetic peripatetic. For a
woman who belatedly learned to read and write, she had an outsized influence on
Church and political affairs in Italy.
Catherine’s legacy
inspires people of different ways of life.
She instructed kings and popes when most women stayed home with their
families. She carried on a healthy
dialogue with the Lord through prayer and meditation. She donated what she had to the poor and
visited prisons. She wrote and dictated
works that still engage thinkers today. All
of us can find something to emulate in the life of this great saint.
